A Charmed Murder
by OurUnsungHeroes42344
Summary: Co-written with the shaymazing Rysposito. AU. Dead body on Castle's door takes the team to Sunny San Francisco, home of the Charmed Ones. My 1st xover with these 2 fandoms, 2nd overall. Chris Centric as well as The CO's. The next gen, husbands, Andy and Prue will also be appearing with Darryl too. Set mid S6 of Castle canon, 14ish years after the Series finale of Charmed, canonish.
1. Murder, he wrote again

A Charmed Murder

By ChrisPerryRyan11 co-written with

A Charmed/Castle Crossover

Set 16 years after Charmed finale and mid season 5 of Castle, AU between Disciple and Under Fire

Chapter 1: Murder, he wrote... again.

"Beckett!" Castle's startled holler comes from the front of his apartment.

"Castle! Castle what is it?" Beckett's voice responds from the bathroom.

"Uh, dead lady on our doorstep," replies Castle.

"What? Again? Castle, are you serious?" Beckett's voice is disbelieving.

"Yep, and what do you mean again?" Castle replies as he hears Beckett dial the phone.

"Remember, The Hamptons?"

"Oh, yeah, that was a dude and he fell in the pool," says Castle.

Moments pass before Beckett replies, coming out of the bathroom with her work clothes on. "Okay. Well, dead guys aside I called Espo and he called Ryan. They're on their way over."

"Right, you have actual clothes on so you get to babysit the body. I'll go start the coffee," says Castle sliding back into his apartment, hugging his robe tight to his body with a shiver.

"Fine," relents Beckett, stepping into the hall. "Oh, and Castle, don't start breakfast. You know what Esposito can be like," Castle smiles knowing all too well about the Hispanic detective's eating habits.

* * *

 _Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!_ Lanie Parish shuffles into her kitchen to find an empty coffee pot and a ringing phone.

" _Call from Javier Esposito,"_ intones the ringing device.

"Javier, you need to get a life and let the rest of us enjoy our weekends," grumbles Lanie picking up the phone. "Javi, you do know what time it is, correct?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then why are you callin' me?"

"Beckett and Castle called."

Lanie sighs. "Let me guess, there's been a murder, right?"

"Yeah."

"What's the address?"

"It's Castle's apartment."

"Seriously?" A confirming grunt. "Alright, I'll be right over," Lanie hangs up and starts getting ready. "All I can say is: there better be coffee."

* * *

"Got it. Pick me up in five minutes."

"No problem, bro."

"Thanks Javi," says Ryan and hangs up his phone.

Besides him Jenny roles over to face him. "Hey beautiful, sorry I woke you. Go Back to sleep."

"Kevin, what's going on? Why are you up?" Jenny murmurs, her voice slurred with sleep.

"Sweetie, I gotta go. Javier called, it's Castle and Beckett," whispers Ryan, kissing Jenny's forehead.

"For their sakes I hope they have plenty of coffee," murmurs Jenny, already half asleep.

A few minutes later Espo pulls up and the Irishman casts a longing glance at his warm, dark home.

"Morning, Javi!" Ryan says, somewhat tiredly but still upbeat.

Espo sends him a glare that could melt ice. "You are Way too perky. Get in," Ryan gets in the passenger seat and Espo pulls away. "Remind me to kill Castle and Beckett when we get there."

* * *

"Castle! They're here! Oh, hi, Lanie."

"Don't you, 'Hi, Lanie' me. Where's the coffee?"

"Coming right up," says Castle, carrying four steaming mugs of coffee.

"Thank you Lord," says Lanie, accepting the mug.

"Lord is a little formal; you can call me Castle," responds Castle. Lanie glares at him over the top of her mug and he shrinks away.

"Yo, Castle, when's breakfast around here?" Espo asks after receiving his coffee.

"Nice try, Esposito," says Beckett with a sly smile at Castle while accepting her mug.

"So how's life, Castle? Mine's good, thanks for asking. I mean, other than the fact that people think they can call you in at 6am on a Saturday," mutters Ryan into his mug.

"What was that, Ryan?" Beckett asks.

"Nothin'. Hey so, that the body outside?"

"Yeah, we should probably go have a look," replies Beckett. "Ryan, Espo do a canvas of the building. Start with this floor, ask around, then check let's say two floors down, then continue with people near the elevators and stairs on the rest of the floors. Lanie, I'll take you to the body, Castle try to control traffic on this floor, not that there will be much."

"That's because it's 6am on a Saturday," mutters Ryan again, draining his coffee.

"Mmm," grunts Espo in agreement. He also drains his mug.

* * *

Several slammed doors, two rather unpleasant responses, a few dozen curses and two floors later. "Yo, tell me you got somethin' better than I did, bro," says Espo joining Ryan on the couch located on the first floor.

Ryan shakes his head. "For The City that Never Sleeps, the New Yorkers in this building are Not morning people."

Espo chuckles. "You got that right, bro. And I thought _Lanie_ was bad without coffee."

"Did you find out anything useful from the canvas?" Beckett asks coming up behind them.

"No, not really," replies Espo. "Nobody on your floor or two floors below heard or saw anything."

"Ryan, did you do any better by the stairs and elevators?"

"Not exactly, but several people didn't wake up so I left a note," replies Ryan. "I figured Uni's could recanvas later after we have an ID."

"Espo, what did you do if people didn't answer?"

"Well you see, I can be very persuasive...," he starts.

"Meaning he just banged and yelled until someone answered," finishes Ryan.

"Well, that aside Lanie's done with the body, she's called in two of her interns to help get her back to the morgue. So, after that's done we'll need to work on an ID," explains Beckett.

"You mean she didn't have any ID on her?"

"That's what I'm saying; no ID in her wallet and no noticeable dental work. Lanie's going to try for DNA. She had this necklace in her pocket, three interlocking arcs with a circle," Beckett displays an evidence bag. "She also had that same symbol tattooed on her shoulder. Do either of you recognize it?"

"Wait, you mean Castle didn't?" Espo says exchanging a surprised glance with Ryan, who is staring at the necklace. "Bro, you're staring. What's up?"

"Huh? Oh, well, Castle may not recognize that symbol but I sure do," replies Ryan, his face a few shades paler than usual.

-/Opening Credits (see youtube)\\-


	2. 3XK?

Chapter 2: 3XK?

"Hey, so I checked with Missing Persons for our Jane Doe. Turns out our vic either hasn't been missing more than 24 hours or she's from out of state," says Ryan, approaching the Murder Board.

"Yo, so I had unis canvas the area around the apartment for anyone who might have seen or heard anything, I also had them recanvas the building now that people are up," says Esposito, also coming up to the Murder Board.

"Good thinkin', did anything turn up?" Beckett asks.

"Nope, canvas didn't turn up squat. What's our next move?"

Beckett's phone rings and she pulls it out. "Lanie's got somethin' for us." She puts the phone on speaker as she says, "You're on speaker Lanie. What do ya got?"

"I've determined her age to be somewhere between 15 and 17 and cause of death was strangulation," informs Lanie in a rapid fire manner.

"Are we any closer on an ID? DNA or fingerprints?"

"I ran her fingerprints and DNA through the system, nothing popped. I'll let you know if I find anything else. If you get an ID let me know."

"Thanks, Lanie," says Beckett before hanging up. "Will that help any with the Missing Persons list?"

"Not by much, I had the age set between 13 and 25," replies Ryan.

"Well, now what? If our vic is local we won't have anything on Missing Persons until tomorrow at the soonest and I think we need a little more than we've got to run the nationwide list. Without an ID or witness we don't have any leads," says Espo with a sigh.

"Let's look at what we do have rather than what we don't, go over the facts again," reasons Beckett.

"Perhaps we can't find an ID because she doesn't exist, maybe our victim was born into a secret society and killed for knowledge," theorizes Castle, who had been oddly quiet. 

"That's highly doubtful, but since I can't think of a better theory, let's stick to what we know," says Beckett with a frown. "Victim is a teen, still in school, possibly from out of state, found strangled on Castle's doorstep, no ID and she had this symbol all over her," Beckett points towards the pictures of the tattoo and necklace.

"Wait, Ryan, I thought you said you recognized it?" Castle pipes up.

"Yeah, it's actually a Celtic Symbol," starts Ryan uneasily. Castle opens his mouth, ready to spout a leprechaun joke at Ryan's expense. "Don't even think about it Castle. As I was saying, it's a Celtic Symbol called the Trinity or Celtic Knot, also known as the Triquetra."

"Does it symbolize anything specific?" Beckett inquires.

"It has different meanings to different people but the most common one I've heard of is that it symbolizes the strength and power of three: three fates, three weird sisters in _Macbeth_ , rule of three in mythology, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, the list goes on and on. So it probably won't help much with an ID until we find out where she's from," explains Ryan, almost reluctantly.

"Perhaps, the triquetra wasn't hers, perhaps it's a calling card of a killer who, drawing on the power, kills in threes," theorizes Castle, not realizing what he's implying.

"That sounds just like..." Beckett trails off.

"Just like Jerry Tyson, 3XK," finishes Ryan, knowing that's what they'd all been thinking. "Pretty, young, blonde, strangulation."

"That's why the triquetra freaked you out so much, bro, you knew it meant three," realizes Espo.

"Esposito put an APB out for Jerry Tyson, get his picture to other stations statewide, but don't make it public, we need to keep this on the down low or we'll spook him," orders Beckett.

"APB's not gonna do squat. It doesn't make any sense either. Why fake his death? Why steal his files? If he's just going to kill a few months later right back here in the city, it doesn't fit," argues Castle.

"What are we supposed to do then Castle?" Esposito retorts angrily. "Last time he went after me and Lanie, before that Ryan. It fits he'd go after you and Beckett next!"

"I don't know! But after all the crap he did last time to disappear showing up this soon doesn't make sense!"

"Doesn't it? They warned us they'd be back and now a dead lady shows up on your doorstep right when everything's good in life: Ryan and Jenny are pregnant, you and Beckett are engaged, it's the perfect time for the other shoe to drop!"

" _GUYS_!" Beckett hollers.

Ryan, who had been silent for the most part chooses that moment to speak up. "Let's just ID our victim and then we'll decide whether or not to put out the APB. I've got an idea on how we can find our victim so I'm going to talk to Tori, if you want to continue to squabble like little kids feel free." Leaving the others behind him in a shocked silence, Ryan walks into Tori's 'office' of sorts where she had her equipment.

"Hey Detective Ryan, what's with all the racket out there? Castle and Beckett goin' at it again?" Tori greets with a smile that falters upon taking in Ryan's paler than usual face and demeanor. "What's wrong?"

"Hey Tori, it's just this case. We still don't have ID and Espo thinks it's 3XK again, Castle doesn't," responds Ryan tiredly.

"What about you? Must be tough for you, this possibly being 3XK and all," says Tori sympathetically towards the young, tired-looking Irishman.

"I don't know what to think yet, I just want to wait until we have an ID and learn more about our victim. On that note I may have an angle on how to find our victim."

"Just tell me how I can help."

"Pull up a list of all Missing Persons in the U.S.," Tori turns on her monitor and a map of the U.S. appears with red dots all over it. "Now remove all of the men and people under 10." Dots disappear from several places all over the map. "Now remove people over 30." More dots disappear. "Damn. That's still way too many to run," Ryan runs his hands through his hair in frustration and begins pacing.

"How about removing married women?" Tori suggests.

"It's worth a shot," responds Ryan, pausing in his pacing to watch some of the dots disappear. "But not enough." There are still too many dots in too many places. More dots suddenly disappear leaving several relatively large clusters. One in New York, one in California and three others spread about the country. "How'd you get that?"

"I changed the age range to the range Lanie gave us, so 15-17," explains Tori.

"Earlier we had the age set between 13 and 25 and we had way more then than we do now. How'd it change so much?"

"The married women and the other ages we eliminated," says Tori. "Plus I put in a possible timeline."

"Good work Tori, now we can run our vic's face through each of the remaining state's database, with any luck we'll have an ID by tomorrow morning, if not sooner," praises Beckett, appearing in the doorway.

"It was Ryan's idea," admits Tori humbly.

"It was _our_ idea," corrects said Irish detective with a smile.

"Regardless we now have a direction for this case," says Beckett.

They fall into a semi-comfortable silence that Tori breaks. "It's quieter now. I take it Detective Esposito and Castle came to some sort of an agreement."

Beckett sighs before answering the implied question, muttering under her breath about the stubbornness of men. "You could say that. Espo agreed to wait until tomorrow to 'remind' the other precincts to be on the lookout and he promised to remain objective until we have more evidence and at least an ID."

Leaving the computer to do its job Tori, Ryan and Beckett join Castle and Esposito at the bare Murder Board. "Seeing as we have no current leads until the computer finishes my suggestion is we all go home and take the rest of the day off until tomorrow morning. Focusing on the case won't do us any good until tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan Detective Beckett, shall we?" Castle extends his arm and Beckett links it with her own, together they make their way to the elevator.

Tori also excuses herself and disappears into her office, leaving Ryan and Esposito at the Murder Board alone.

The two partners stand there semi-awkwardly until Esposito breaks the ice. "Look, bro, I'm sorry I overreacted with the whole 3XK thing..."

Ryan glances at him, surprised at his normally stubborn partner's admission. "It's fine. It's difficult for all of us, 3XK escaping again right under our noses and this case but we're cool, bro, it's all good."

They share a smile. "You wanna come over for a quick game of _Madden_?"

Ryan's smile falters. "Sorry, bro, I would but I should probably get back to Jenny, I think she's pissed about me takin' off this mornin', either that or its hormones. We're still on for tomorrow though if we have time."

Esposito shrugs, understandingly, he can tell from his partners genuinely apologetic tone that he's torn inside. "It's all good, bro. I woulda kicked your ass anyways."

Ryan's smile broadens. "Thanks," a pause. "Hey! Wait a second, what do you mean you would've kicked my ass? I think you've got that backwards."

Smiling the two detectives enter the elevator, it's doors closing on their friendly back and forth banter.

"I have a theory," Beckett says between sips of wine.

"About what? The case?" Castle asks, also sipping a glass of red wine.

"No, not exactly. It's about you, and how you became Mister Master of the Macabre."

"And what's your theory, Detective?" Castle says, as Beckett takes another sip, intrigued.

"When we found the body I said _again_ thinking about The Hamptons, but that was actually the third body that's paid a house call," she pauses for a sip. "One, my place. Two, The Hamptons and three, this case. You're drawn to death obviously, is that because death is drawn to you?"

Castle pauses, the glass halfway to his lips, at a loss for words.

"What's wrong?" Beckett asks, sensing she'd hit something.

Castle shakes his head and has another sip. "Sorry, that just sounds like something Tyson said to me that night in the hotel room. And as for your theory, Detective, that is one mystery you will have to wait to finish for another time. Come on, I'm tired."

Castle stands, his hand outstretched, leaving their empty glasses on the table, Beckett accepts the hand and whispers seductively into the writer's ear. "I hope you're not _too_ tired."

 **San Francisco**

"Shauna? Shauna Devlin?" Leo Wyatt calls out for the fifth time that week, with a sigh he marks _Absent_ by her name and continues down the attendance list.

Later that day Leo picks up the phone on his desk and punches in the number. "Yes, can I speak to Lieutenant Morris please? I'd like to report a missing person."


	3. Found?

**Chapter 3: Found**

 _9am Sunday Morning: 12th Precinct_

The computer beeps, informing a vacant precinct that it's work is done: Match Found.

Kate Beckett opens her eyes, with a content sigh, to an empty bed. Stretching, she sits up and looks about the empty bedroom. "Castle?"

The delicious smell of breakfast and coffee reaches her nose as the door to the bedroom opens and in comes Castle, his arms loaded down with a tray laden with breakfast for two.

"Good morning, Beautiful," greets Castle, clad in his dark grey robe, placing the tray on the foot of the bed.

"Mornin', that smells wonderful Rick," she replies, taking a piece of bacon off her plate. Castle slides the tray towards her and settles himself at the foot of the bed previously occupied by the warm tray.

Kate picks up her mug of coffee, unable to stop the grin that appears on her face upon seeing Rick's trademark 'Castle Heart'. Sipping the perfectly made beverage she asks, "Did my phone go off at all since you've been up?"

"It may have a few minutes ago, but I can't be sure. Why?"

Kate picks up her phone, off the nightstand, and turns the device on. "Yep, message from the precinct, the computer found a match to our Jane Doe. Time to go."

"How do you know? Who sent the text? I can't imagine anyone connected to this case being in this early, considering their grumbling yesterday," says Castle, gathering up the remnants of their breakfast.

"The computer," replies Beckett, entering the closet. "I had it notify our phones."

Castle and Beckett step out of the 12th Precinct elevator almost an hour later, coffee, transferred to travel mugs, in hand. Awaiting them is an all but empty bullpen, the only occupants, residing at their desks being Ryan and Esposito.

"Good, you got the notification, too. Have you checked the computer?" Beckett asks, striding across the bullpen to join them.

"Good morning to you, too," grumbles Ryan, nursing a cup of coffee, his eyes dull.

"Sorry," apologizes Beckett, "that was quite rude of me."

"Hey, you okay, buddy? No offense, but you look like you haven't slept a wink," asks Castle, studying Ryan with concern.

He's right. Kevin Ryan looks half asleep in his chair, his eyes heavy and bloodshot, his normally impeccable clothes are wrinkled and his hair still damp from the shower instead of gelled up. In short the Irishman looks like hell.

"He fell asleep on the way over," supplies Espo.

"Shut up Javi," mutters Ryan, almost inaudibly. He looks at them, his eyes unfocused. "What? Oh… sorry guys. I was up all last night with Jenny, she had morning sickness real bad all night. Speaking of which, why is it called _morning_ sickness if it lasts all day?"

"A question that has baffled both men and women alike for years," sympathizes Castle.

"Are you okay to work today?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as I get the rest of this coffee in me. Shall we go see what the computer came up with?"

All four friends, coffee cups clutched in hands, make their way over to the computer.

Beckett logs into the interface and clicks on the waiting software page. A green box with the words: _MATCH FOUND_ pops up on the large screen so Beckett clicks on the box. It vanishes and a missing person report pops up in its place, complete with known information on their vic.

"Shauna Devlin. Age, 16. Reported missing by her teacher, Professor Leonardo Wyatt yesterday. Says here she hasn't been in class for 5 days and students live on campus, her only contacts listed are her teachers," reads Esposito off the screen.

Beckett pulls down a drop down menu and tells the device to print the missing person report, school file and photo ID. All four exit the office and go to the Murder Board with the exception of Ryan who retrieves the papers off the printer before joining them.

Ryan puts the photo up under the _Victim_ category and Beckett replaces _Jane Doe_ with _Shauna Devlin_ , she also adds the other known information: age, cause of death and last known location.

"Ryan, where was she last seen?" Beckett asks, pausing in her writing.

Ryan scans the pages. "Umm, school, on Monday."

"And where is the school?"

Ryan consults the papers again. "Umm...what the, that can't be right."

"What? Where's the school, Ryan?" Beckett asks as Ryan blinks and rubs his eyes.

"Give me that," Esposito says, yanking the papers out of Ryan's hands. He too scans the papers."What the hell?"

"What?" Castle and Beckett exclaim in frustrated unison, they glance at each other.

"The school is in... San Francisco," says Ryan in disbelief.

"As in California? That San Francisco?" Castle inquires, holding back his excitement, for the moment.

"The very same."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"This case is officially amazing. So? Who's up for an adventure?" Castle says excited, or maybe it's the coffee.

 **Happy holidays readers! I hope you're enjoying reading this crossover, I know I've been enjoying writing it (wow that sentence is awkward)! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on how to make this the best it can be drop me a line. Again happy holidays and expect an update sometime soon in the new year. And don't you worry Charmed fans, we'll check back in with San Fran soon! ChrisPerryRyan11**


	4. I hate this case

**Chapter 4: I hate this case**

 _Previously on Castle... "This case is officially amazing. So? Who's up for an adventure?" Castle says excited, or maybe it's the coffee_.

"Don't pack your bags just yet Castle, for all we know Shauna was visiting someone in the city," says Beckett, shooting the writer down.

"Ryan, Espo, you two dig into her life, see if you can find any financials specific to her or any recent activity on her family's accounts. Find out what she was doing in the city and when her activity stops. Remember, she may have been reported missing on Friday, but she's been out of class since Monday," instructs Beckett. "Castle, you and I will go to the morgue and update Lanie. We'll meet back here in an hour."

A little while later at the morgue Castle and Beckett enter the main examination lab; Lanie's domain.

"Hey, got your message," greets Lanie. "Did you get an ID?"

"Yep," Beckett hands her the photo and missing persons report. "Just wanted to double check and see if you found anything else."

Lanie scans the papers, her mouth moving with silent words. Castle watches her and is not surprised when she pauses and rereads a portion.

Lanie looks up. "Umm...are we sure this is right?"

"Which part?" Beckett asks, already knowing the answer.

"The San Francisco part."

"Yes-."

"Isn't this great?!" Castle interrupts, both women turn to look at him. "Well not the death part. But mysterious disappearance five days ago only to show up dead on the other side of the country, come on!"

Deciding to ignore the over excited, coffee high writer Beckett turns towards Lanie.

"As I was saying. Did you find anything useful? Anything that could help us with a timeline at best?"

"Well adding on to our list of the strange and weird I'm putting time of death two days ago," the ME replies.

"Well that should help a bit with tracking her movements, we can knock off two days. Thanks Lanie."

Beckett pulls out her phone and sends a quick text to both the boys. **KB** : _ToD 2 days ago._

Her phone dings a moment later. **JE** : _Thnx. Vic had personal bank account + cards, running now._

"Lanie, is there any way you can narrow down that Time of Death at all? It turns out our vic here had her own bank account and cards so a smaller window will be helpful in narrowing our search," Beckett says as she pockets her phone.

"I'm still running tests and then I'll open her up, but until then two days ago is the best I got for ya, Sweetie, I'll let you know," replies the ME.

"Got it, I'll do the same. Come on, let's go." Both women glance at the writer, who is leaning in closer to the body. "Castle!"

"Huh?" Castle jerks his head up smacking it hard on the exam light overhead. Castle yelps and rubs his head, stumbling backwards. "Ouch!"

Lanie and Kate exchange a look before Beckett guides Castle from the morgue.

A few minutes later Beckett and a still grumbling Castle exit the elevator. Castle makes a beeline for the break room muttering something about: "stupid light" and "I'll go get us some coffee".

Beckett, meanwhile approaches the murder board and updates the timeline, wondering to herself where the boys are and why they hadn't updated the board yet.

Her answer comes a few seconds later in the form of Esposito. "Yo Beckett, you're back."

"Hey, where'd you guys go, and why wasn't the board updated?"

Esposito holds up an ink cartridge in explanation, "Printer was out of ink, had to get some from downstairs." He continues to the printer and busies himself with replacing the spent cartridge.

Ryan appears from the break room with an odd look on his face, carrying two coffees. "Hey, umm do you know why Castle has his head shoved in the freezer?" Ryan hands Espo his coffee as he says this.

"The klutz hit himself pretty good with the exam light. He's supposed to be getting coffee for us," answers Beckett with a sigh.

"Ask and you shall receive," a voice says without missing a beat. Castle emerges from the break room holding two mugs of steaming hot liquid.

Castle hands a mug over to Beckett and frowns when Ryan and Espo nearly spew their coffees, shaking with laughter.

"What?" The writer asks incredulously.

Ryan manages to control his laughter long enough to say, "So, Castle did you enjoy your trip to Hoth?"

He and Espo crack up some more and fistbump. Castle looks at Beckett for help but finds dismay as she too is laughing, though not as hard as the boys.

"I see...you...hick...brought us a...hick...souvenir," hiccups Espo between laughs.

It's then Castle realizes what's so funny: he has ice cubes stuck in his hair. Frowning he shakes his head vigorously, spraying the three laughing detectives with ice bits and water. Holding up his phone Castle fixes his hair and glares at Ryan and Espo, unable to stay mad at Beckett for long.

"So, our vic's financials..." prompts Beckett, bringing the group back to earth.

Ryan takes a deep breath and grabs the freshly printed papers off the printer. "Right here, the last ten days of activity on her..." he breaks off, scanning the papers once, twice and a third time, squinting at a line and shaking his head. "Account..." Ryan rubs his eyes and hands the papers over to Beckett, dodging Castle's grabby hands.

Beckett quickly scans the papers with a sigh, "I hate this case."

Castle snatches the papers out of Beckett's hand, who, to be honest doesn't exactly try to stop him. "Pack your bags, boys, our flight leaves tomorrow."

This time Beckett doesn't correct him because this time, this time he's right. The last known activity on her account had been in sunny San Francisco California and it wasn't for travel to New York or anywhere near it.


	5. From NYC to SF

**Chapter 5: From New York City to San Francisco**

 _Previously on Castle… This time Beckett doesn't correct him because this time, this time he's right. The last known activity on her account had been in sunny San Francisco California and it wasn't for travel to New York or anywhere near it._

"Not so fast, Castle. We have no jurisdiction in San Francisco and we'll have to clear travel plans with Gates," reminds Beckett. "Though at this point I do believe a scenery change is in our near future."

"I think I've got us covered on jurisdiction," replies Ryan. "I know a guy who used to live here in the city, before he moved back to San Francisco a couple years ago. He's a Captain with the SFPD now."

"Give him a call and we'll present this to Gates tomorrow."

"You got it. Is there anything else we can do tonight?"

"No, we'll meet back here early tomorrow morning, good night guys. I'd let your loved ones know you'll be out of town."

"You got it, what about Lanie?" Espo asks, a thought striking him.

"I'll let her know she may have travel in her future, but it all depends on Gates. Come on Castle, let's go."

Beckett and Castle walk into the elevator and it closes behind them.

"Hey, Javi," starts Ryan uncertainly.

"Yo."

"Do you mind if I umm…"

"Skip Madden Night tonight so you can spend time with Jenny?"

"Umm, yeah."

"No problem, bro, besides we'll need our rest."

"Thanks, Javi, see you tomorrow."

The next morning in Captain Gates' office at approximately 8:30am all three detectives plus Lanie and Castle stand in front of their captain.

"Let me make sure I understand correctly," starts Gates after Beckett finishes presenting their request. "Mr. Castle found a body outside his door Saturday morning and it may or may not be another 3XK victim but your investigation has stalled because your victim was and has no indication of being anywhere other than San Francisco, so you and your team would like to travel to San Francisco with Dr. Parish and Mr. Castle in your company in order to continue the investigation?"

"That's correct, Sir. Detective Ryan has already gotten permission and restricted jurisdiction from his contact in San Francisco."

"And who is this contact?"

"Captain Darryl Morris with the SFPD," answers Ryan, "he lived here in the city for a couple years, back when I was in Narcotics. I called him last night and he's happy to assist in any way he can."

"And with your permission our flight leaves in three hours," interjects Castle with a smile, holding up five tickets.

"Well I can see you have this all thought out and seeing as this may be a chance to catch 3XK, I can't really argue with your logic here, detective. What I'm trying to say is: yes, the five of you may go to San Francisco to continue investigating this case, however, I'd appreciate updates as you find new information especially if this is the work of 3XK."

"Yes Sir, thank you, Sir. We'll leave right away," replies Beckett before leading her team out of the office.

The team silently gathers the boxes they've already prepared and they all enter the elevator.

As soon as the doors to the elevator are safely closed behind them Castle punches his fist in the air. "Yes!" He holds out his fingers for Ryan and Espo to feed the birds, Beckett and Lanie exchange a look and roll their eyes.

"Alright. I've arranged for a car to pick us up and take us to the airport, it's standing by for my call. He'll pick me and Kate up first and then whoever's ready next, so call me when you're ready," announces Castle.

"Remember we have no idea how long we'll be in San Francisco or what the weather's going to be like so pack accordingly," reminds Beckett.

"Try to be ready in an hour, we all know what New York City traffic can be like, let alone JFK." With that being said they go in their separate ways.

About thirty minutes later Kevin Ryan opens the door to his apartment. "Jenny? I'm home," he calls out.

A heavily pregnant Jenny Ryan turns the corner, a mixture of emotion on her heart shaped face. "Kevin? What are you doing home so early? Is everything okay?"

The Irishman in question quickly closes the gap between them wrapping his wife up in a tight hug. "Hey, beautiful. Everything's fine, don't you worry." He bends down until he's eye height with Jenny's stomach, his arms still around her. "Hello in there. Would you please tell your mommy not to worry so much?"

Kevin kisses her belly and stands as Jenny replies. "You know that's pointless advice to give a mother, right? Now what's this all about?"

Kevin sighs and wanders towards the bedroon, Jenny follows close behind. Kevin opens the closet and pulls down his duffel and suitcase, putting them both up on the bed next to where Jenny has seated herself.

"Jenny, I hate to do this to you and I hope it's not for very long but I have to get on a plane in a few hours and to go to San Francisco…" he whispers the last part but Jenny still hears him.

"What? Why? How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me? Why you? Kevin! Talk to me!" Jenny exclaims all at once, on her feet with surprising speed, tears already forming in her eyes.

Kevin turns to face her, tears also shining in his eyes. "Please don't make this harder than it has to be. I love you and I don't want to leave you, especially right now," he sits on the bed and Jenny stands in front of him, her arms crossed. "Now ask me again and I'll answer all your questions."

"How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you, it's been up in the air for a few days, it only became a real possibility yesterday and that was only if Captain Gates agreed to it, which she did about an hour ago."

"Why you? What could possibly come up to make you go to San Francisco for God's sake?"

"As of right now there's nothing connecting the case to the city except for the location of the body, even I'm having a hard time believing it. We're all connected to this case personally, too. Me, Javier, Kate, Castle, even Lanie."

"How is that even possible? Unless…" she trails off. "You think this is someone you've gone up against before…"

Kevin sighs. "Yes, which is why we're all going and why you can't just stay at a hotel. As much as I'd love you to go with us I can't risk losing you. We're just going to pop over there figure how and why our vic got to the city and we'll be back before you know it."

He stands to continue packing and Jenny sits back down and appears to be deep in thought.

A good fifteen minutes later Kevin emerges from the adjoining bathroom, bathroom bag in hand he puts in his suitcase and zips it shut.

Jenny, who has been silent, chooses that moment to speak up. "What if you have to stay in San Francisco for a while and it doesn't end up being the really dangerous killer you think it is, then do you think I could fly out and join you?"

Kevin laughs as he packs the final items of his carry on duffel: the two newest Nikki Heat and 1st three Derrick Storm novels.

He then sweeps Jenny up into a tight hug, tears beginning to fall. "I'll check in with you every night, you can call me whenever you want." He pulls back and kisses her belly before standing upright to give Jenny one last, long kiss goodbye. "I love you so much and I miss you already."

"I love you too, be safe Kevin," she says crying as well.

Outside a car horn beeps several times and the couple finds themselves laughing through their tears. He grabs his bags and Jenny leads him to the door of their first floor apartment. He opens the door just as the car honks again. Shooting a mischievous glance at the waiting car Jenny pulls him in for one last, tearful kiss.

"I love you so much," they say in unison before Kevin turns away and walks to the waiting car.

As Ryan approaches the car/limo the trunk pops open and he puts his suitcase and duffel inside before the trunk closes itself. One of the side doors pops open to reveal three of his four traveling companions: Beckett and Lanie sit facing the rear of the car on the bench seat under the sliding window, Espo sits across from them furthest from the open door. Turning around Ryan waves one last time to Jenny, who is still standing in the open doorway before he climbs in next to Espo, pulling the door shut behind him.

The partition window rolls down to reveal Castle happily seated in the passenger seat, grinning like an idiot. Everyone is silent as Castle tells the driver to head to JFK, but everyone else has a smile a mile wide.

As they pull away and still no one speaks, Ryan decides he's had enough. "Okay, what am I missing? Why are you all grinning like you just won the lotto?"

It's too much for Castle and the smile morphs into a giggle, Beckett shoves his shoulder lightly. "Rick, don't tease him!"

Espo has to stifle laughter just then too and Lanie nudges his shin with her shoe. "Javi, stop it, it's sweet."

"Yeah, sweet as honey," he replies, causing both him and Castle to lose their last shred of control.

It dawns on Ryan all at once. "Hey now! Come on, you guys!" They're teasing him for his long goodbye to Jenny.

The laughter dies away when Beckett speaks up. "How'd she take it?"

Ryan hesitates.

"Aw bro, not good then, if i had to guess by the tear stains," sympathizes Javi, all humor gone.

"At first no, but she's strong and she understands, I think. I must've caught her in a good mood, she was pretty optimistic about flying out to join us."

"I'd be happy to provide her with transport," offers Castle.

"Thanks, Castle, that's really great of you but I don't want her anywhere near that city of it's really 3XK and who knows what waiting for us in San Francisco anyways."

The car stops and their driver turns to face them. "We're here."


	6. or maybe not

**Chapter 6:...or maybe not…**

Disclaimer: I own nothing and this is in no way sponsored or approved by _Delta Airlines_ or _JFK Airport_ **.**

 _Previously on Castle… The car stops and their driver turns to face them. "We're here."_

A few minutes later the car pulls away to join the mob of incoming and outgoing cars, leaving all five friends on the curb.

Castle glances at his watch and then at one of the tickets and then back at his watch. "Ah, crap!"

"What?" Beckett asks, a note of alarm in her voice.

"It might be nothing, but it's 10:30 already. Let's just say if security takes forever we might be pulling a McCallister family," replies Castle.

All he gets are blank stares.

"McCallister family? Late for the plane? Running through the airport...seriously?" Castle shakes his head with a sigh. "Never mind, let's get going."

Still confused, but reminding themselves it's Castle everyone heads into the airport.

Inside they're faced with mobs of people and lines of great lengths.

"Oh, this should be fun," states Esposito sarcastically.

"Which line is ours?" Beckett asks, ignoring the sarcastic remark.

"Delta," replies Castle, scanning the busy area and the above signs overhead.

"There." Lanie points at the end of the row.

"Good eye, Chica," says Espo as they start towards the far end of the lines.

Thankfully, Delta's lines aren't as long as the others and Castle of course has preferred membership, so by 10:50 their checked bags are weighed, tagged and sent on their way. They make their way back to the other end to join the people in line for security.

"Oh, shit," The lines for security are all the way back by the entrance of the airport.

Glancing at their watches they exchange a glance before joining the long line.

They slowly make their way forward until eventually they reach a point where they either go left or right so personnel could check their passes and IDs. Their group is chosen to go right and a little while later they end up on the other side of the checkpoint and in the line that would eventually split four separate security lines. Around 11:20 they reach the point where they can begin placing their belongings in bins.

Ryan takes off his shoes and suit coat, watch and badge before pulling out his phone and notepad placing them all in a bin. The others follow suit. He slings his duffel bag onto the conveyor and pushes them forward until he reaches the back of a small line for the security gate.

They pass through without issue and Kevin collects his things before meeting his friends at a bench where they're redressing themselves. He sets everything on the bench along with his duffel before bending down to put his shoes on. Standing, he pulls his suit jacket on, puts his notepad and phone in the inside breast pocket, slips his badge into his pants pocket and fastens his watch on wrist. Once he's finished, he glances at the time.

"We've got fifteen minutes to get to our gate," he announces.

Beckett places a hand on Castle's shoulder as she pulls on her shoe. "What gate do we need?"

Esposito helps Lanie up and glances at his ticket. "A5."

Stepping away from the small group Lanie locates an overhead sign before approaching their group again. "A5 is at the very end, heading left."

"Of course it is, then let's get going," says Castle, packing up his bag, now alleviated of shoulder balance duties.

Quickly they hurry towards their gate arriving with 5 minutes to spare. If it wasn't the last gate they might've missed it, finding themselves to be one of the only one's waiting.

They drop their bags and the boys locate a bathroom to fill their water bottles and relieve their bodies if need be.

Ryan is the first one back 2 minutes later, allowing Beckett and Lanie to leave to do the same.

Confused and a little concerned about the lack of people Ryan approaches the desk. "Welcome to JFK! How may I help you?"

"Uh, yes, me and my friends are on the Delta flight to SFO, it leaves in like 2 minutes and there's nobody here…"

The perky attendant taps a few keys on her computer. "The 11:45 Delta flight to SFO?"

"Yes, why?" He asks with a sinking feeling.

"I'm afraid it's been moved to gate B41…"

His eyes widen, his mind conjuring up an airport map he must've glanced at. "Is the time of departure still the same?"

"Yes-."

"Thank you," he cuts her off and hurries back to their stuff where the others are just sitting down.

Beckett looks up in alarm as he slides to a stop in front of them, panic in his eyes. "Ryan wh-."

"Come on! We've got to go! We're gonna miss our flight!" He exclaims without explanation, grabbing his bags.

"What are you talking about? Our flight leaves in a few minutes and we're already here," Castle soothes.

"No, it's not!" He gasps.

Javier stands up and grabs Ryan by his shoulders, turning him to face him. "Bro, what are you talking crazy for?"

"They changed the gate for our flight, this is the gate for the 3:55 Delta New York to San Francisco flight!"

This has everyone on their feet with their bags and a few curses at once. "What?!"

"Gate B41," he announces as they head back the way they came.

"Shit!" Beckett exclaims as she catches sight of a large terminal map once they reach the end of the security checkpoint once again.

B41 is on the opposite side of the terminal.

Castle glances at his watch as they all take off, sprinting through the airport, hand in hand, all helping each other out.

" _Last call for Delta flight 419 JFK to SFO,"_ a voice over the loudspeaker announces.

Without a word Javier tosses his bag to Kevin and pours on the speed, sprinting ahead to the gate.

The overly cheerful attendant behind the desk looks up in alarm as Javier skids to a stop in front of her desk. "Hold...the...plane…" he gasps, out of breath.

Kate, Rick, Lanie and a panting Kevin jog up a minute or so later, also out of breath.

Javier takes his bag from Kevin as the others pull out their boarding passes.

A little while later all five of them are sitting in the comfy first class seats. Rick sits in the window seat, Kate next to him, across the aisle Lanie is seated with Javier next to her and Kevin next to him in the opposing window seat.

The plane takes off without issue and in a little while they're at altitude and on their way to San Francisco.


End file.
